Everlasting
by NileGal
Summary: Rose and the Doctor stop off in London just in time for Christmas. Both still adjust to each other has changed, as well as how they’ve changed themselves. Regeneration was never a straight line, it has ups and downs just as the rest of life does. 10Rose
1. The First Act

**Title: **Everlasting

**Rating: **K+

**Summery: **The 10th Doctor reviews the moments of regeneration in attempt to figure why he can still remember his previous incarnation on a December night in London. (slight 10/Rose)

**Authors Note: **More Ten/Rose fictions! This has to be driving most people insane, so I tried to take a different approach to it; coated in slight angst, but the story takes place a few months after the regeneration. It's also during the time of _The Christmas Invasion_, my own little musing based off pictures on the web. It took awhile for me to name this fic, so I'll probably be renaming it later. This was intended to be a one-shot but I may continue if I can find some more inspiration.

He frowned in frustration at the console of the TARDIS. The ship creaked and shifted to answer his frustration but he waved it off and went back to studying the console. He kicked the bottom of it lightly, trying to find anything imperfect with it. However the ship repeated its earlier actions but harsher and louder in protest. He lifted his eyebrow and looked up at the ceiling of the console room. The TARDIS shifted again, creaking and settling.

He sighed and opened up the floor panel and removed his blue bathrobe, placing it over the railing. He slipped into the now opened compartment, looking around at the settings below. The TARDIS let out a small electric field as his fingers brushed against the instrument.

He sighed, aggravated and looked up at the ceiling with a slight glare. "You aren't being very helpful in all of this, you know." He spoke to her. The ship creaked softly like a scorned child. "Good girl, now why don't you tell daddy what's wrong with you so we can be on our way?" he raised his eyebrow as the ship shifted. "What do you mean by _that_?" the ship creaked and he sighed, putting his forehead to the compartments entrance and banged it slightly. He didn't need a temperamental ship at the moment. However he pulled himself up and closed the compartment, putting his hands on his hips as he looked up at the ceiling again. Giving in with a sigh he fell back into the chair in front of the console, folding his hands across his chest and his feet up on the console as his mind began to think of what could be making the TARDIS act up this time.

Ever since the regeneration things had been different, of course that happened every time. Rose had been skeptical at first, untrusting and unsure, but she had slowly adjusted. He wasn't sure if she had just accepted him now or if she had really figured out what regeneration was. Either way he was now stuck on the blue little planet she was from, waiting for her to come back. After a month of traveling with him she asked to go home and see her mother, which of course he complied. Shortly after Rose left however the TARDIS began to act up. He'd run simulations which all turned up negative on physical damages, leaving him to believe the TARDIS had decided to sit back and get used to the new Doctor. Yet the TARDIS had seen him do this nine times now, he'd think she'd be used to it. However the constant creaking and shifting directed him to believe otherwise. The TARDIS was trying to adapt herself to the new way the Doctor thought and moved, his interests and destinations he would like to go to. Yet whenever he confronted his age old companion she shifted and creaked as if she didn't want to answer. He had groaned, hoping that Rose wasn't affecting the some-what personality the ship seemed to have.

However the thought of the TARDIS led him back to the nagging question in his mind. When regeneration took place he would usually loose his memories of his previous self, but after the first few days most of them had returned. There were times here and there more would come to him and he would seem to daze out into space as he relived the moments in his head. He had explained to Rose that it was perfectly normal for Time Lords, however at the time Rose had disagreed. It seemed like Rose had a preconceived idea of exactly what a Time Lord should be like, and when it turned out to be wrong, she was angry at herself and taking it out on the Doctor and the TARDIS. The Doctor shook his head, remembering the dents the Earth woman had placed into the TARDIS when she threw her fits, and how angry the TARDIS was. He was stuck between two women having an ugly war and he couldn't seem to sway either of them. The TARDIS, in her own ways, was trying to show Rose what to do in these moments and explain, while Rose ignored and just answered by making rather large dents into the ship. Oh that had been a nightmare to fix.

His thoughts found his way back to the process of regeneration and how it had changed. He had already decided that it wasn't because of Rose. After all he had many other companions and it had never affected the process before. However now as he sat there, contemplating, he noticed that more memories from his earlier lives were coming back to him. It was odd at first, but now he slipped simply into the previous roles of himself and relived the memories. He shifted in his chair and leaned his head against the back of the chair, once again going over the moments before the regeneration.

Daleks, hmm they had become quiet a problem hadn't they? Rose had returned in the TARIDS, possessed by the Time Vortex which was the heart of the ship, and destroyed the Daleks. She explained the meaning of _Bad Wolf_, which was certainly not what he thought it would be. Despite all the other things going on at the time, Rose was going to die. The only thing that could handle a Time Vortex _was_ and _is_ the TARDIS, and it would kill anything else. A simple kiss was what it took to remove the Time Vortex and replace it into the TARDIS before he took her inside. He then went on about dogs with no noses and planets that he would have taken to her. Maybe he shouldn't have said that, it just caused the poor Earth-woman to be scared. He then regenerated and felt disorientated which of course was completely normal for a Time Lord. Rose of course had been shocked and helpless; then again he should have explained it much earlier.

The Doctor frowned a bit in thought, going over the moments in his mind again. Everything worked like it should be. He would have died instead he activated the process; it worked fine, except that he _remembered_. He was puzzled by it all; it didn't seem to add up. There was something missing in the equation, a variable that wasn't supposed to be there. He shifted in his seat again, going over the moments over and over trying to figure the wrongly placed variable.

The TARDIS creaked again. He looked up, listening as the ship shifted and creaking, speaking in her own dialect to help his chaotic mind calm. As he listened he didn't realize the door had opened slowly and close softly. He didn't notice the soft footsteps of his companion come up the ramp to the console or notice her stand beside him and watch him. His attention was focused on the story that his ship was relying to him through her own language. However he must have noticed she was there because his hand came from where it rested on his chest to grab hers and hold it tightly. His companion looked at him oddly, looking up at where he was looking but she couldn't see what he saw.

"Do you hear that?" he asked and she looked at him. "The small voice in the back of your mind, speaking to you in something you can't understand, but you still know what its saying?" His voice was softy and expressive like it had been that fateful day he had taken her hand and taught her about how the world revolved through space. She tilted her head as he broke his gaze at the ceiling of the TARDIS and looked directly at her, into her eyes.

"Do you know what the TARDIS is?" he asked suddenly.

"It's a ship." She answered. "It goes in time, wherever and whenever you want. It has a heart and a mind as well."

"That's just the basics of a TARDIS." He explained, drawing her attention up to the ceiling of the room. "It's not just a box with a key that's bigger on the inside than the out for a disguise." He looked at her as she studied the ceiling for what he was looking for. "That's just what the TARDIS needs, Rose. The TARDIS is truly a living thing, something that looks after both you and me and the better for both of us and any companion that waltzes through that door." He stopped slouching and pulled himself to stand. Rose looked at him as the Doctor placed his blue bathrobe on.

"So what you're telling me is that the TARDIS…."

"Is alive and wants to help anything and anyone regardless of race, birthplace, color, or anything." He put his hands on her arms and smiled. "Rose, do you know what this means?" Rose shook her head. "I _know_ Rose! I know why now!"

"Know what?" she was confused and didn't understand.

"How I remembered!" He said gaily like a child at Christmas. "How and why I can remember everything I've done, who I've met, where I've been, oh Rose it's so fantastic!" She returned the smile that had formed on his face; it had been a long time since she had seen him this ecstatic about anything. It was just like when she had first met him, full of the sense of just being _alive_. He quickly walked past her and went to the doors of the TARDIS but stopped, half turned, and held his hand out for her. She didn't hesitate and took his hand, walking outside into the cold December air. Her shoes and his slippers crunched into the fallen snow and he looked up at the sky, holding her hand tightly.

"So," Rose looked up at him and he looked down at her. The street lights came on, the city slowly changing into a sleeping one except for the late night Christmas shoppers. "Are we still clinging to the skin of this little planet as we fall through time, just you and me?" she smiled as he did.

"Not just this one, but thousands of planets." He stated as he looked up, pointing to the sky. Rose looked up seeing the moon hiding behind the clouds as the stars twinkled through them. "Thousands of stars and planets all clinging together as we fall all at the same time through it all." He looked back down at her and the wonder that crossed her face as it always had. Even now the thought of so many places seemed to still amaze her.

"And you know this because you remember?" Rose asked. The Doctor looked down at her, and smiled as he squeezed her hand.

"I've always known it, its part of being a Time Lord." He responded but turned her to face him. "It was the TARDIS, Rose, she did it!"

"What did she do?" Rose was still unsure of what he was talking about.

"The Time Vortex, Rose, think about it!" He said hastily, trying to get her to work it out on her own. He knew he could, she was intelligent, and however he was unsure of how much she remembered from the Time Vortex. She bit her bottom lip, thinking before turning her attention back to him. He smiled at her. "Rose, the Time Vortex is everything that has happened, that will happen, and that can happen, all at once. No one and nothing but the TARDIS can handle that, Rose do you understand?" She nodded. "I remember _because_ of the Time Vortex! Isn't it wonderful Rose?"

"Wait, slow down." She held her hands up and it took him a moment to wind down. "You're telling me that when you absorbed the Time Vortex it made you remember?"

"Almost." The Doctor smiled, taking her hands and putting them down. "You see Rose; the power of the Time Vortex is what caused my regeneration. That means that it had also altered the process some how, an unknown appearing variable in the greater equation that affected the answer. Because it _was_ the Time Vortex that caused it all, that affected this version of me. Because of it I can remember everything I've done, I've seen, and everyone I've met more clearly than ever." Rose nodded slowly, coming to an understanding of the beaming man before her.

"But you're still different." She said and his smile slipped as he blinked.

"Of course." He answered. "That doesn't change. My interests and personality might be altered, Rose Tyler, but I am still the same person I've been for over thousands of years. I'm still the Doctor, just a bit different." He paused as she stared at him. "That is alright isn't it?"

Rose shifted in the snow and a smirk found its way on her face. "Well it doesn't matter does it? It's a normal Time Lord thing even if I don't fully think its alright." He didn't smile but frowned. She rolled her eyes at him and reached up, ruffling his longer hair. He blinked, confused but interested in the motion. She smiled, knowing what he was saying was true. He was still giddy about adventures and saving people, easily excited over something he had discovered. He was still the Doctor.

"You're still you." She concluded, bringing him from whichever thoughts he was pondering at the moment. "You're still the Doctor, just in a pretty new package….but you don't have a bow." She smirked and he raised his eyebrow at her. Rose blinked as a snow flake landed on her nose. She raised her hand and moved the water off her face then looked around as the snow continued to pile around.

"Hmm." He was studying the area around them as well. "We should get something warm, it'll be freezing here in a moment." He looked at her. "What do you want?"

Rose looked over her shoulder at a small coffee shop nearby. "How about some hot chocolate?" He looked over at where he was, then down at his attire of his pajamas and bathrobe. Rose laughed and wrapped her arm around his. "Oh come on people are always going to the coffee shops in their sleepers, Doctor, don't be so embarrassed about it. Drinks on me."

The Doctor looked at her oddly. "I don't think so Rose Tyler." Rose looked up at him, confused. "What kind of date would I be letting the lady pay?" he smiled widely as she stood perplexed. "I was able to find some extra pounds around your mother's apartment, now let's go before we freeze to death." Rose laughed and put her head on his arm as they walked together to the lit coffee shop as the snow continued to fall.


	2. The Second Act

**Title: **Everlasting

**Rating: **K+

**Summery: **Rose and the 10th Doctor stop off in London for Christmas just a few months after the regeneration has taken place. Both still adjust to each other has changed, as well as how they've changed themselves. (slight 10/Rose)

**Authors Note: **Needless to say I was a bit surprised by the wonderful feedback I received! My drabble, if you call 2000+ a drabble, seemed to be rather popular. Here is the next chapter, some more 10th/Rose fluff, but I don't plan for this to turn into some adventure, that's what the show is for.

She ran her fingers through her blond hair, moving the massive strands from her vision. After being to planet to planet and saving time after time the news of what was happening now a days seemed so very…boring. Here she was, sitting in her mum's living room with a cup of hot tea listening to the boring announcer go on about the biggest Christmas sale in years. She had to remind herself. These people didn't know what she did; they didn't know that this would all be irrelevant in the years to come. No one would care.

She shifted in the large couch, turning her attention back to the frosted window. The snow had settled from the night before, and the mixture of frozen water and cold air started to freeze the windows like every year. She put her chin in her free palm, looking out the window at the new addition to the scenery this year. Amidst the falling snow sat a police box, standing there as if it always had been even though it hadn't. It was collecting snow, soon the blue paint would be chipped and he'd complain about having to repaint the box as soon as they left this time to another.

A smile played on her lips and she looked over at him. He was sprawled on the other couch across from her, sleeping soundly, but still adorned in his sleepers and bathrobe. He looked content and comfortable, except the small moments where he would shift, but he would fall back into slumber at that point. She studied him; even now she wasn't fully used to his new appearance. She started at his head, taking note of the somewhat poofy hair and narrow face. He had a smaller body now, lean and didn't have as much muscle tone, however he seemed physically fit. He was shorter, but still taller than her. As she raised her cup for another drink she noticed that one of his slippers had fallen to the floor when he had moved.

She lost it.

The hot tea spurted everywhere as she snorted into her cup, and withdrew quickly, moving the hot water off her face. He stirred for a moment but fell back asleep. She put the cup down and continued to dry her face with her sleeve as she laughed. Her mother poked her head in from her bedroom but went back to her doings. She continued to giggle but forced herself to pause as she reached over the table and picked the slipper up silently and hid it behind a pillow. Maybe in his new look and thinking he'd be more opted for teasing than he was previously.

However her giggling didn't subside long, for he rolled off the couch and straight onto the floor with a large thud. She covered her mouth and laughed, shutting her eyes tightly at the tears that threatened to come out. She managed to open one eye as he sat up groggily, rubbing his head and groaning. He slowly looked over at her, disorientated as she proceeded to lie on the couch and curl into a ball in her giggle fit. He ran his hand through his hair and made the attempt to figure out what she was laughing at, but he didn't receive his answer until he stood and found not a slipper but carpet against his foot. He looked down, frowned, and knew this would not do.

He looked at her through narrowed eyes, something told him that she had done something while he was….well what _was_ he doing? He took a moment to recall what he remembered last, which was standing in the afternoon chill talking to Rose and her annoying "boyfriend" Mickey about how the TARDIS could survive the elements but complain about the cold. He quickly put one and one together and figured he had blacked out as he was still adjusting to his new form.

With the greater mystery solved he turned his attention back to the giggling blond on the sofa, put his hands in his pockets, and simply spoke.

"I seem to have lost something, Rose Tyler."

She paused and looked at him for a moment before breaking down into a fit of giggles again. He groaned, not practically in the mood for this childish banter she enjoyed. Now if it was a playful banter about analytical studies he would have enjoyed it, but he knew there was no point in trying to get her into one of those topics. He simply stepped around the coffee table, squatted down to eye level as she opened her eyes and looked at her seriously.

"I think you know what I'm missing." He said. She blinked and tried to play dumb, but he wasn't going to let her this time. He pointed down to his bare foot and she slowly looked over the edge of the couch, trying not to laugh. He groaned again. The Slipper-less Time Lord….oh what a story of irony that would haunt him forever. A snicker found her way out as she put her face into the couch to hide her laughter. He sighed, no more Mr. Nice Time Lord.

"Rose Tyler I demand the return of my slipper."

Rose dared to look him up in the eye and then she dared to smile. "Or else you'll do what?"

That was a good question. What _would_ he do? A million things came to mind, all which he could process of course, but most of them he could only get away with when they were onboard the TARDIS and not in the living room of the wrathful Jackie Tyler. This left him with one option that he _knew_ would work because he had seen others get away with it. So, what was he to do without giving it away? That was simple.

He smiled. That put enough playful fear into her at the moment. Here he was squatting beside her couch, smiling when she was laying down on it; however she wasn't going to let him intimidate her like that, not at all. In response she smiled, daring him to do his worst.

"Well I don't know where your slipper has run off to." She replied, smiling and he raised his eyebrows in interest at the challenge. "Maybe you should keep better track of your slippers or they'll run off your very feet like that."

He smirked and took her challenge. He stood, hands in his pockets and waited a few moments still she had propped herself up on the couch. He reached out and tickled her sides and she shrieked in laughter, desperately trying to get away like a cat who found out it was bathing time. He leaned forward on the couch with one knee off as the other one lay against it and continued to tickle her.

"Stop…stop it!"

"Then either release my helpless slipper or tell me where I might find it. Poor thing must be all alone."

"I said stop it!" she shrieked as she tried to claw away. He caught a bit of blue out of the corner of his eye and snatched his precious slipper in one hand while he continued to tickle her with the other. Something made his hairs stand on end and he stopped, seeing that Rose had freeze like as if she were a child that had been caught trying to get cookies. He slowly followed her eye vision and found the wrathful woman standing in the hallway. His eyes widened and he stood still, and mentally sighed at the human impulse to freeze and hope no one would see him.

However seeing him, the Doctor, with the expression of a 'deer-in-headlights' was enough to send anyone into a fit. Jackie had simply giggled before heading back into her room, not giving the awkward position another thought. Rose giggled and took the opportunity to shove him away from her with her foot as she sat up. He scrambled backwards, steadying himself with the wall as he replaced the slipper to its rightful place.

"Well great going, you and your slipper." She pretended to scoff.

He returned to her side and bent down, placing his lips against her ear which startled her. "You were the one that had taken the poor thing hostage." He whispered before standing up and striding into the kitchen. Rose tilted her head in wonder, still adjusting to this new man. He was so much like he was before, but so different. For every difference there was a similarity, and at times it made her head spin. He was more analytical, but still mad. He was still funny, but in different ways. He still liked to read, but spent more time reading than he had before. He teased her less about her intelligence, and more in physical way, but never beyond what a friend would do. She sighed, running her hand through her hair as she looked at the ceiling again.

While she pondered him, he leaned against the kitchen counter with his hands in his pockets. Her thoughts were on him while his were on her. It appeared to him that she had changed more than he had changed. She was less cheeky, but still cheeky in her own way. She was less contradicting to herself and more open with what she expected and wanted from him. She was more open with her feelings around him, but less about what was on her mind. He crossed his arm in front of his chest and set his elbow on it, hand on his chin as he thought. She was still just as ready to torture him, but in different ways. He knew for certain that three months ago she wouldn't dare take a slipper, but then three months ago she didn't know that he owned a pair of slippers. Three months ago Rose Tyler had never seen him sleep, if you could call passing out from regeneration side affects sleep. Three months ago they wouldn't be on Earth for a holiday; they'd be off in some foreign system saving some species from dooming themselves.

Rose's thoughts had also drifted to the months and how things had changed. Here they were in her mother's apartment just two weeks away from Christmas. Three months ago he would be complaining about it being too domestic for him and begging her in his own way to leave for an adventure. Three months ago she had never known he owned anything other than a black leather jacket or that he could even fathom sleeping, let alone sleeping on her mother's couch. Three months ago he would have stalked out of the room instead of tickling her.

Her eyes drifted to the small cutout in the wall where she saw him thinking. His head would tilt, his eyebrows burrow together, and the corner of his mouth would twitch, going either up or down depending on the thought that would cross is mind at that moment. He would stay still instead of pace about in thought and flinging his hands into the air. He would continue to think of a way to make it work if it was broken, even when he was off doing something else at the moment. She noticed that his eyes had drifted to her as well, studying her like she was him. In this moment Rose had noticed the small drift that had formed between them, and she could tell that he noticed as well. He must have seen something, for in a moment he was out of the kitchen and in front of her, grabbing her arm and pulling her up from the couch.

"What are you doing?" she asked, startled.

"Well let's go on then!" he smiled, dragging her to the door as she grabbed her heavy coat. "We have things to do and places to see!" Rose faltered as he opened the door and turned to her. "After all with just a few weeks you'll never see London this cheerful and good willed! Come on now get the coat on we don't have time to waste." He was out the door quicker than she was able to understand the sentence, but she sorted it out while she placed her jacket out and informed her mother. She closed the door and ran down the stairs after him. Finally she caught up to him and pulled him back, looking at him.

"You daft man." She shook her head. He looked at her oddly as she gestured to his attire. "You are planning on going around London in your sleepers?"

He smiled. "I've seen you silly people go around in London with much less clothing on, I don't think anyone will care. And if they do, so what of it Rose Tyler? They won't remember it past tomorrow." He grabbed her hand and smiled. "Let's go."


	3. The Third Act

**Title: **Everlasting

**Rating: **K+

**Summery: **Rose and the 10th Doctor stop off in London for Christmas just a few months after the regeneration has taken place. Both still adjust to each other has changed, as well as how they've changed themselves. (10/Rose)

**Authors Note: **More kind reviews means more acts to the story. We have a bit darker angst parts this chapter than the previous ones, but only to be expected when you dabble in the minds of people that watch ones close to them change. Still based within Christmas and sometime during _The Christmas Invasion_ however. Thank you to everyone who reviews and enjoys this little ficclet. This is certainly the longest chapter thus far, so if you are here a bit longer don't be too surprised.

If there had been one important thing that he had learned after his regeneration it was something he had learned on his own.

Snow was cold and it was awful to stand in for extended amounts of time.

And yet, he was able to take his hard earned shelter within his beloved ship, hiding from the daft little humans who ran about from convenient store to convenient store looking for the perfect gift that their significant other wouldn't remember in three months. Inside he was safe from the cars and rude drivers; it appeared that the Christmas spirit would come on Christmas Eve. Until then it was hell living through.

However the celebration was important to Rose and that's why he had bared the two weeks and not left for a much saner place…if you could call the third moon of Jevoian sane, then again it had to be compared to the crazy isles of the large stores Rose had gone into searching for gifts. But in the end Rose had asked for him to come, very shyly he noticed. He had wondered why at first, but then remembered how his previous incarnation hated shopping. Well he could understand now, but still Rose had asked so he had complied. She was filled with life and dragged him from store to store all the time in his sleepers. Of course he had gotten odd looks, but he was used to them, and just smiled and waved. Silly little humans and their amounts of money spending. He never understood it.

Now he sat in his comfortable chair in the library of his beloved ship, his feet up as and head tilted against the back of the chair, looking up at the ceiling. He had shifted every now again as he thought, something he had become quiet adapted to in the last three months. After all he had a lot of time to do so, as Rose had been very distant in the beginning. Even after explaining the regeneration process to her, she was still hesitant to take his hand or give any physical contact. There could have been many reasons for this, one she wasn't emotionally over the change, two she could have been afraid that in some odd way that he would regenerate again, the list went on and on. But in one adventure she had taken his hand, seeking comfort, and that was when things had begun to look brighter. He never bothered to ask her why she was like that, but he felt that if he pushed the matter it would just make a small gap into a giant rift.

Well that was interesting. He was afraid of Rose. No, he corrected himself. He was afraid of _loosing _Rose. She was a wonderful companion, as were all his other companions, except a few, which Rose happened to bring on board, but there was something a bit different about Rose. Maybe it was the fact that after the regeneration she hadn't left or the way she would always try to prove how she could know more than him. He tilted his head. Maybe it was because Rose was so much like him? He sighed, he didn't know, but he didn't want her to leave because he had changed. Even now, three months later, it was still a large worry for him. A worry of slipping up, saying the wrong thing, and causing her to demand a passage home.

He admitted, when she said she'd like to return home, he was afraid, even more so when she asked if she could set the time herself. He uneasily let her; of course it was obvious that she thought he was just uneasy about anyone else beside him setting the TARDIS. When they arrived it had taken him a moment to gather the courage to follow her out of the TARDIS, and least to say he was surprised to find it Christmas time. Rose was so happy and had asked him if they could stay for the holiday, like it was his job to decide where she would go or not. After a moment of being baffled he had agreed, making a happy witty remark to hide his shock. Of course to ruin the moment Mickey came as he heard the TARDIS siren. That had been a nightmare to explain. The daft boy thought that someone had killed him and abducted Rose. Honestly, if someone had killed him, the Doctor had no worry with Rose taking care of herself and the enemy. She was a smart young woman and he had seen her time and time again prove herself able to take care of a situation. Another reason why he liked her he supposed.

He lifted his wrist up, looking at the time. Rose had once again gone shopping, and said she would return by six. It was four now, giving him another two hours of thought, or he could attempt to try and do something. Now that he thought about it, Rose had been teasing him lately about his apparel. He certainly couldn't wear his former self's clothing, it was much too large, but he had grown to like his current outfit. _But, then you couldn't go about saving other people in your sleepers_, he sighed. And next came the one of the things he had begun to dread about his regeneration process, the fitting.

If there was one thing she had learned from the previous three months, it was that the Doctor was one hell of a shopper himself.

Even though he'd never admit it, he was rather enjoying himself. Rose would stand in the isle as he looked over each item on the shelf carefully and mumbling things about them to himself. Occasionally he would pick up some obscure item and jokingly talk about how she should buy it for whomever she was shopping with at the time. One time it was a sort of plush doll that he had tossed at her exclaiming it would be perfect for her mother. She had giggled and tossed it back at him, saying it suited his new apparel better than anything in her mother's house. He had carefully reexamined the plush doll and asked her if she was sure, which she replied that she was very sure. He had simply shrugged and tossed it back into the bin, offering his arm for them to continue.

However one thing he didn't enjoy was how rude people could be. Rose found herself not caring, adjusted to how people acted when shopping for the holiday, but the Doctor seemed absolutely shocked. He had decided then he would rather go and be eaten by some raging swamp monster on some moon she'd never heard of before rather than shop with such "arrogant little people" again. This had upset the other consumers but he had snapped at them when they attempted to explain their reasons. She sighed.

Maybe Time Lords weren't fit for twenty-first century shopping.

It was just another thing to add to the list. She had been keeping a mental tally of what was different about him in her head, and it was starting to grow longer than what was staying the same. This worried her. If he could change in other aspects, he could easily be bored with her and send her back to her boring little life. She sighed as she walked down the street, her hands in her pockets as her shoes crunched in the fresh snow. He didn't seem bored but rather enthralled in everything, but then again maybe he was just pretending to so she would stay. Rose sighed in frustration; it was getting harder and harder to understand him. The thought crossed her mind to steal his slipper again just to rid weighted thoughts.

However she found herself in front of the TARDIS within seconds, or maybe she had been standing there and didn't notice. She pulled the key out and opened the door, stepping inside, into the warmth that the ship greeted her with. She couldn't help but smile as she removed her scarf and her coat, a slight skip in her step as she walked up the ramp to the console panel. The ship gave a slight hum of life at acknowledging her presence.

She supposed that within these three months she had changed as well. Her memory of the final moments on the Game Station had returned to her, but she was certain it wasn't of her own accord. A memory recalled itself, of when he told her that the TARDIS gets inside your head. She had pondered this, wondering what more there was to it. Of course he hadn't spoken much about himself back then, but he could now. Whatever the reason, she had fit most of those final moments back together before he regenerated, but it left her more baffled than anything.

Time for a chat.

Rose walked down the halls of the TARDIS, peaking into the rooms looking for him. He wasn't in the library, his room, or the kitchen, or the bathroom. She found herself just wandering the halls until she had found an open door. She recognized the room as the wardrobe room and poked her head inside, seeing that it was slightly messier than usually, but that was usually her causing the messes. She stepped inside, seeing the small pile of the Doctor's bath attire in a chair and feeling herself freeze. There was a stumble beside her and she turned slowly to look, this time she was the one adorned in the helpless 'deer-in-headlights'.

He looked up at her, obviously surprised to see her there. She opened her mouth to say something but found herself unable to say something, her mind was completely blank. He must have noticed because he smirked as he folded the collar down on his white dress shirt. She watched him turn back to the mirror and begin placing his tie on.

Since when did he wear a tie?

"What are you doing?" she managed to say from her blank slate mind.

He tilted his head and turned it slightly to look at her, one eyebrow rising as if she had asked the most moronic thing in the whole universe. She felt so stupid then. It was obvious what he was doing, but so foreign, she had never seen him actually get dressed. Then again three months ago he wouldn't even think it possible that changed his attire at all.

He noticed this, she knew he did. His eyebrow returned to it normally was and he stopped attempting to fiddle with his tie and smiled at her. He turned to her, hands in his pockets taking a bit wider stance as if he was trying to get her approval. She took a step back, tilting her head and looking him over from head to toe. She stopped as she noticed he tensed, what he actually cared what she thought about his apparel? This was certainly an interesting development.

"It's missing something." She concluded.

"What would that be?" he asked a bit softly, perhaps he was concerned about what she thought.

"A vest. A matching one, with your trousers." She concluded, pointing to his pants. He blinked and looked down at the pin stripped ones, eyebrows rising as if it had dawned on him. He looked up at her and one of his witty smirks appeared on his face, the same one that showed up when he had realized there was a adventure waiting for them. This was going to be very interesting.

She walked past him and into the closet behind him. His eyes followed her as she moved into the closet, slowly turning and watching. She quickly thumped through the jackets hanging in, giving quick glances at him, and looking him over before returning to her search. He didn't fail to notice the small smirk that would appear on her face, which made it an adventure in itself. Here he was, standing there while a woman dressed him. He couldn't recall letting it happen with any other of his incarnations. Maybe that is what made it so enthralling. He moved quietly behind her, watching as she would pause and study the jackets with the most careful expression, looking for any faults or clashes.

Rose noticed that he was standing behind her, not moving, but standing and studying her. She shifted a bit; it was so odd finding herself being watched by him. Sure he often id it, but it wasn't like this. Usually it was just to see what she was thinking, but he was actually watching her now, studying her almost as if she was a work of art. She hit herself mentally, that was a stupid assumption. He was probably just watching her to make sure she didn't choose some god awful neon green. Still it made her a bit uneasy and faulty, but she forced herself to focus at the topic at hand. She suddenly froze as her hand hovered over hers.

"What about this one?" he asked.

She looked at the one that she had paused at. It was brown like his pants; in fact it looked like it matched perfectly. She wrinkled her nose at the thought of why it was separated from its match but shoved it off and pulled the hanger off the rack, turning around, and looking up at the taller man behind her. He looked down at the jacket, looked at her, and gave his adventurous smirk. Damn.

Whatever made him smile like, she wished it didn't.

He took the jacket and walked out of the closet, facing the mirror again as he went to place the jacket over his shirt. However she took the jacket from his hands, tossed it on to the chair, and put her hands on her hips. Well this was certainly surprising; he wasn't expecting Rose to be flinging his clothes about. He glanced at the jacket, then at her, and where she was pointing. He looked down, finding his tie was still undone. He frowned and gave a slight glare at the tie. Something told him to wear it but he couldn't get it to work right.

Rose must have known the fact because she took him by the shoulders and spun him to face her, catching him off guard and startled. She took the two ends of the tie and began to tie it together, being very precise in her measurements. He wondered idly where she had learned it, but some part of his mind decided against asking about it, too busy being mesmerized by it all. However he was brought back from his thoughts quickly as Rose pushed the knot up too far, giving him a slight choke. Her eyes widened and she pulled it down a bit, taking a small step back.

The Doctor gave a cough before straightening his tie and grinning at her sheepishly at his very uncharacteristic choke. She smiled back and picked up the jacket, handing it to him. He placed it on; tugging at it to make sure it was on completely and fit. He looked back up to see that Rose was now another closet of the room. Deciding quickly that he didn't want to know what she was looking for, he turned his attention to buttoning his jacket up. However he stopped on the second button when he found a mess of light brown soft leather in his eye line. He looked up through the brown hair that cascaded into his eyes at her as she smiled in triumph.

"What's this then?" he asked.

"Are you honestly that blind?" she retorted teasingly, holding it up. "It's a trench coat, Doctor. Think about how cold it is going to be outside. You don't have as much muscle now so layering is going to be your best option to keep warm."

His eyes narrowed playfully, still looking up at her through his hair. Rose paused a moment and felt a tingle go up her spine with just how _dangerous_ he looked. "Are you saying that I'm scrawny?" he narrowed his eyes a bit more, lowering his voice.

Rose offered a brave smile. "Sort of, yeh." She repeated his previous incarnation's catchphrase.

He stayed still for a moment, keeping the expression on his face and his head tilted down, eyes peering up at her. But slowly a smile formed and he snatched the coat, placing it on quickly. He tugged at it, shifting in it with a thoughtful full face before nodding in approval. He peered in the mirror, fixing his long gelled hair and looked at Rose.

"Well let's go give it a test run." Rose's face fell, he noticed. "What?"

"I thought….we were staying here." She said softly, hurt. He frowned, she hadn't caught on to his meaning and now he had gone and hurt her feelings. He gave a slight frown, blowing the hair from his eyes in frustration. Sometimes she was so…well, human.

"That's not what I meant." He corrected himself, and Rose looked at him. "After all your shops are much more dangerous than any planet or moon I can face." He gave a smirk and slowly she smiled back, understanding his joke. He winced and rubbed his arm as she punched him, maybe he was getting scrawny. She giggled at his pain and he gave a slight glare, stuffing his hands in his pockets as some form of protest.

"So why so eager to try out the attire?" she questioned.

He smiled. "Simple." She looked baffled, just like she was supposed to. Whenever she was baffled her lower lip would stick out, her head would tilt, and her nose would scrunch up in silent protest. He looked down at his wrist, moving the layers of clothing and looking at the watch that lay below. "Its five forty three and twelve seconds." He looked up at her. "You said you wouldn't be back till six. This means that you came back early to get me and drag me back out into your crazy world of shopping." He wasn't going to complain. He might not have openly admitted that he disliked how the people acted in stores, but it gave him something to do, and he didn't feel as lonely.

His reasoning was too quick for her brain at the moment. She was still trying to understand how he looked so classical, like a Roaring Twenties wealthy man, but still like he belonged in the twenty first century. Perhaps it was a gift to all Time Lords, or perhaps he was able to adjust so well. Her brain finally figured through the dashing appearance and snapped back to the present, which was him looking at her rather oddly. She smiled weakly and nodded.

"Alright. Let's go then."

He walked past her, his hand going and grasping hers as he passed. She entwined her fingers between his, squeezing his hand lightly. His eyes slowly gazed on her through their corners, and he squeezed back. Rose's eyes drifted down to their hands, and for the first time in three months something registered in her brain.

His hand was smaller and the fingers longer, but his grip was still the same.


	4. The Interlude

**Title: **Everlasting

**Rating: **K+

**Summery: **Rose and the 10th Doctor stop off in London for Christmas just a few months after the regeneration has taken place. Both still adjust to each other has changed, as well as how they've changed themselves. (10/Rose)

**Authors Note: **Continuing with the theme of the last chapter, this is a bit of a darker chapter. Unlike the first where it was a happy perspective of the regeneration, the Doctor slowly notices the darker sides. Thank you all for reading, this story is truly written for you all. I've noticed that on my spaces between the times have disappeared. I will try to mend this error. In the meantime, here is your next installment.

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Times changed, people changed, it was part of being alive. Being able to see the changes around you could be considered a gift by some, others a curse. To constantly notice how people and things changed, to notice they were different than the day before, to see they had changed back or changed from the point on.

Lately he believed it to be a curse.

He could stand there, just as he was, watching children play with their mothers and fathers in the snow filled park. The melting snow had freeze into ice crystals which hung from the swing set, casting the cloudy sun's beams into the snow below, making the substance glitter and sparkle. Moving out of the way from the children he strode over to the ice crystal and moved his fingers down slowly over the frozen water, the melting process beginning just as soon as he touched it. Melting without his wanting to or his consent, but happening because the universe was a cruel place.

He sighed, putting his forehead to the cool bars of the swing set, closing his eyes. It would always be a part of him it seemed, lying dormant in the back of his mind waiting its time to come and nip at him slowly, moment by moment, and fragment by fragment. He had hoped so hard that it hurt, hoped that the hideous memories would fall through time and never be remembered, just disappear, like the individual's histories through out the years. He wanted it to disappear, to never exist in anything, but it did. How could it not? They were all gone in one blazing inferno; there was no way to change time.

He had hoped it would disappear along with his previous incarnation. But it wouldn't.

Not as long as Rose was by his side. As long as she was there memories of his previous incarnation remained constant, the memory of blazing infernos pounded into his skull when he was alone. The numbing pain of feeling the noise in his head become quieter and quieter came back to him, making him stop and time seemed to freeze then just as it had then. He opened his eyes halfway, lifting them to watch the families that had gone from snowmen to a snowball war in moments played out before him. Like everything else it seemed to be a movie, a moment to treasure in the now, and slip through the shifting movements of time within an instant.

It was gone for him. All gone. The moments played out before with his family and friends and enemies all slipped through the cracks of time as if none of it existed ever, merely a dream that came to haunt the night and waking moments of solitude in the day. Now he remembered why, why he traveled alone, why he did not like to stay with family holidays. He suffered from it.

But he wouldn't impose his suffering on her. He never had, he never wanted to. She knew what she did from her persistence; he didn't want her to know his grief. It would spread and become part of her as well, time interlacing its fingers within hers and tying her to him forever. Long after she would leave her ghost would remain within the heart of the TARDIS, her voice and presence joining with the several others that lived within the walls and floors to remind him of days gone. Days he could never relive, he could never see again, save the moments that lived inside his hearts and mind.

He wished forever did not last just a day.

Her presence wasn't left unnoticed. He knew she had been standing beside him sometime, her gaze switching from the families he watched to his face. He knew that his eyes betrayed him, they always had. He could mask his emotions but they always leaked out through his eyes. He wished she wasn't there now, she could see it all in a moment. But if she was not here now, she might not be there then or later. Time was always changing, she could be there one moment and the next be gone, leaving him alone within the stream of time until he could no longer cheat death and die.

A shiver traveled through his arm and he glanced down, finding her hand slipping into his coat pocket where his lay dormant from the cold. Her hand was freezing; the glove had been removed from sometime as if she was battling with herself on taking his hand. Her hand found his and clasped onto it, over the moments becoming warm. His gaze traveled to hers, looking for an explanation of the action she had done. Didn't she know that this moment was only now and the rest of time would never know of it?

His silent question was answered by a weak smile, her eyebrows drawn together in a frown as she tried to understand. He wouldn't let her, he couldn't. She'd never be able to turn back, her presence would stay within the walls and floors like others had… others he had let to close. Her face changed suddenly, her mouth drawn into a line while her eyes softened and glistened with water. He knew then his eyes had betrayed him again. He quickly shut them and placed his forehead on the rail, gripping onto her hand that was in his pocket.

Why? The moment was going to just disappear. It would mean nothing within years, just a faint memory that would be a small reminder of the blond shop girl that lived within his ship; a ghost that would wander the halls of the TARDIS unseen by others that would follow her, but seen by him and felt. She would be dead but still alive like so many others before her; it was the TARDIS's way of trying to keep him happy by reminding him. However it was slowly chipping him away.

"Doctor." She said softly. His grip loosened just a bit, his thumb drawing small circles on the back of her hand as a way to expel his emotions. "Doctor, look at me, please." She said softly and so full of emotion. She was frightened and lonely, sad but curious. He took in a shaky breath slowly opening his eyes and turning his neck to look at her. She studied him, her eyes shaking as she tried to fight the water that threatened to fall at any moment, cascading down her face like water on rocks. Her mouth moved as she gulped, and gripped onto his hand tightly, as if begging him, pleading him for a silent request, one he refused to see. He looked away from her, and back at the families.

She was determined and shut her eyes before turning her gaze back to him. "Doctor." She said again, louder and constricted to keep her emotions away. "Doctor tell me." He seemed to freeze. "Tell me what's wrong. Tell me why you won't tell me anything now; after all we've been through. Please, tell me." He didn't answer, he was trying to block her out, and she knew it. She hated it. She hated when he wouldn't tell her, when he would enclose himself into his own little universe where only him and what he knew lived. It scared her. "Doctor." She said louder with more authority in her voice, more than she had felt. It was going wrong, all wrong.

"It must be the Time Vortex, that's all I can think." He said softly as if to himself, forgetting she was present with him. "Why else would it still be there? I don't understand, it shouldn't."

He didn't understand?

Who was this man and where was her Doctor? He always knew, he always understood, nothing in the universe would leave him confused and so disheartened. Her Doctor, no matter the appearance was not like this. Something was wrong, she needed to know. Rose stepped closer to him, standing beside him as she clutched onto his hand, her shoulder brushing against his forearm. His grip tightened as if he were going to fall and needed stability. He was tense himself, every muscle, even his energy and spirit he projected was tense, time itself seemed to tense as well. What had gone so terribly wrong in just one evening?

"Doctor." She managed his name, his title, through the tense time. It sounded so small, so unimportant, and in the moment following it was gone. She wasn't going to let that happen, let it slip away, let her feelings and worry just disappear, never. "Doctor." She spoke again, her unshed tears coming through her lips and voice as she began to tremble in fright.

"Do you feel it Rose?" he asked softly, his grip becoming tighter. "Time slowly changes. We change with it and it changes with us. There is no stopping the change, no matter how hard we try. Time is constant, never stopping. What is important one moment is not important the next. Your feelings will change by time and you, your memories and existence will slowly fade…." He trailed off, staring ahead but his eyes remained unfocused as if he saw something that no one else could see. "You will be nothing more than a ghost in time, something that was there but no longer remains. In ten years your presence will not matter, it will simply drift away and become faint images and sounds, the air and energy just having brief flashes of the existence you led."

"You're seeing it, aren't you?" she managed to say, trying to find the courage within the sea of fright that lay inside her. She was clinging to him now, afraid to loose him in the current. "You're seeing into time, like you always do, and it's scaring you isn't it? Why are you scared, Doctor? You're never scared." She turned slightly so half of her stood in front of him. "You're a Time Lord, how can you be scared of time?"

He slowly looked at her, his eyes flickering between the thousands of thoughts and emotions that clashed within his mind. She could read them all, understand them, and see them play out. Never before had he shared the _feeling_ of time with her, the sheer intensity felt crushing and mind shattering, leaving her clinging to him to keep afloat. She knew he was clinging as well, but bit by bit his grip was being swallowed by the pressure of time, threatening to take him into its depths. She gulped again and tightened her jaw to keep from loosing herself within the sea of fright.

"Rose," he spoke softly. "The Time Vortex, it is time. It lives in us and we live in it." He closed his eyes and tried to get away, to let himself slip into the crashing waves but she held onto him, not letting him float away. His eyes found their way open again, facing her. "You feel it, can't you Rose? You can see time, feel it inside you, around others, flowing forever through everything that is and will be."

"Yes." She found her voice, but it was small and seemed to drown with the tides.

"I can too." His other hand took her gloved one, guiding her to stand before him. "The regeneration was altered by time, changed from how it is supposed to be. I can feel time and see it, but now it is so much clearer and vivid, its presence is overwhelming, enough to drive someone mad, Rose." He stepped around the swing pole, guiding her to follow him and she complied. "This moment, right here and right now is going to mean nothing within moments. It'll be lost forever, slipping through our fingers and the grasp of time as if it never happened; a ghost to come and remind us in the night when we aren't expecting it."

She bit her lip, holding his hands just a bit tighter, lowering her head slightly to keep the tears from coming down. She looked up then and swallowed, determination found its way through the black sea of fright.

"You're wrong." She said. His face became loose and his eyes dropped and his age showing through the youthful appearance. "I can feel it. I know its here, I know that it works, lives inside my head along with the TARDIS." She removed her glove hand and pulled the black fabric off her fingers with her teeth, tossing it aside. She slowly put her fingers under his chin, her thumb resting against his bottom lip as she lifted his head up slowly, seeing the water that had gathered in his eyes. She offered him a small smile. "I don't care about others that live in time or here. This matters to me. Therefore it'll always be in time because I'm inside it. Right here, right now, what is going to happen, and what has happened… it all matters to me. I don't want to miss it for anything in the universe, Doctor. I want to be here with you."

He wasn't convinced.

"You'll just fade." He said lowly with the expression drained from his voice. "Like the others before you, you'll become a ghost inside the TARDIS and inside my head, faint actions from others will remind me and I will relive that moment just briefly before the now captures me and the then slips away again. Others that come after you will know your presence and feel you there, they will leave their marks, and more will come. It's why they, my people, never traveled with companions."

She was hurt.

"You're saying I'm going…to just disappear?" she asked softly, blinking once and twice, tears slipping from her eyelashes and down her cheeks. They were warm and her skin was cold, the reaction to both burned her skin, searing the memory into her mind and the time that existed there. His face fell. "I'm not going to mean anything?" his gaze did not waver, assuring her that what she gathered was truth and fact. Her teeth bit on her lip hard, feeling her grip slip from his as the tides of time crashed into her, making her feel so small and insignificant. She didn't matter. No one mattered, not in the constant flow of time.

"Everyone means something." He answered softly.

"To what?" she countered. "What do we mean to others? We'll just disappear and history will change with time, we'll all be forgotten and nothing to remind others of us…I…" she trailed off to keep her voice in check, to keep the rest of her tears back. She was slipping, within moments she'd be lost in time just like the others, unwillingly to fight back and be a rock that the tides could beat upon. Only Time Lords were like that, and they were all gone, save one who was slipping and willingly to admit into the flow of time.

"I'll just become a ghost….a figment that walks back and forth inside and out of time, nothing more…." Her voice echoed his statement. Her hands slowly moved from his, admitting defeat. She wasn't strong enough to stand against time, she was just a shop girl who had her job destroyed and her life turned around. It wouldn't matter to anyone within the next few years.

His hands grabbed hers, startling her. She looked up; his eyes were fierce with determination that had been suddenly found. His hands guided her close, resting her head against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, head resting against hers. Her hands found their way around his back, clutching onto his frame for support and strength that had been stolen from her. He held to her tightly, reassuring her he would not let her fall into the ocean and let her drown away into the ever shifting and moving tides.

"It matters." His voice echoed her statement. "You're absolutely right Rose Tyler, it matters." He pulled his head back, looking down at her as she looked up at him. "It means something to us. It'll stand out in time for us, even if history doesn't record it. You and me, we're falling through time, against the flow, back and forth. Just you and me." His forehead found hers and he closed his eyes, holding her tightly. Rose found herself no longer clutching, but being held to him.

Rose smiled, giving a twitch and a stifled giggle. He pulled up slightly, opening his eyes and blinked. Rose brought her hand up to his face, and moved his bangs from his forehead. He was perplexed over the matter, she wondered if he'd ever get used to her fidgeting with his longer hair. It dawned on him why she was giggling and he rolled his eyes at her girlish sense of humor. Heavens above forbid his hair be tickling her. He brought his hand to her face, moving the few tears that slid down her face off with one swift motion of his thumb.

"You're awfully warm." He mused softly, moving his hand from her cheek to her forehead, putting it against the skin and under the hair that had found its way into her face. A frown came to his lips and he tilted his head, looking her over. "You're a bit pale too, more than normal. Rose are you feeling alright?"

She nodded. He sighed; maybe the regeneration effects were starting to come on again. She noticed and took the hand from her forehead and held it tightly, assuring him that she'd be with him no matter how hard the tides decided to roar. He smiled at her and began to lead her back to the TARDIS, glancing down at her as she smiled back and put her head against his arm, a child in a toy store was the reflection given off by her eyes.

He raised their hands and kissed the top of hers, offering one of his dashing smirks. Rose laughed, it was just another change she found in him, besides his accent that had shifted slowly. She stuck her tongue out at him and laughed again, putting her head against his arm. The footsteps they left in the snow would stay until the next blanket overlapped them, disappearing in time.


	5. The Fourth Act

**Title: **Everlasting

**Rating: **K+

**Summery: **Rose and the 10th Doctor stop off in London for Christmas just a few months after the regeneration has taken place. Both still adjust to each other has changed, as well as how they've changed themselves. Regeneration was never a straight line, it has ups and downs just as the rest of life does. (10/Rose)

**Authors Note: **The 'Interlude' marked the halfway point of the story, meaning it will be wrapping up here pretty soon. I never expected it to turn out like this, as it was originally intended to be a one-shot but so many readers wanted more! And here I am on my fifth chapter just within a few weeks! I feel the need to credit those who inspire me, which are my readers, and the wonderful doonarose. Honestly this woman has written such brilliant fanfiiction! This chapter also might be a bit shorter than the last ones; I had a bit of difficulty with the format. However I believe it turned out rather nice in the end.

* * *

"What the _bloody_ hell _is that_!"

She stopped half way from exiting the TARDIS and looked over her shoulder at him. He stood there in front of the control panel, hands in his pockets, mouth agape and stared. Her nose wrinkled at him when her gaze followed his to the large red and black backpack she had lofted around her shoulder. A smile found its way onto her lips as she moved her black hat on her head, giving him a daring adventurous smile. Her satisfaction had come lately in not telling him everything she was going to do.

His mouth snapped shut and his brain was able to function again after the surprising shock of seeing her carrying around a mountain climbing bag. How many gifts was she planning to buy and stuff in that huge thing? It could probably serve all of Africa! Alright, maybe not Africa, maybe Turkey or possibly Quebec of Canada. He shook his head and stared at her again, refusing to repeat himself.

Rose laughed at his expression. "Mum asked me to do some errands, she's going to a Christmas party of her friends and I'm supposed to bring some things."

"'Some things' means a whole food supply for an entire nation?" he said, still gaping at the size of the bag. "What does your mum's friend live up in the Alps? That thing is absolutely huge!"

She laughed again. He rolled his eyes at her taking in the pleasure of his confusion and shock.

"It's a party, Doctor, a Christmas one at that. There's going to be loads of people, of course I have to bring something so big." She teased back and stepped out of the TARDIS, but paused and looked over her shoulder at him. His eyes narrowed, he just _knew_ she'd ask something absurd.

"You think you can take me there?"

There it was.

He shook his head and blew the hair out of his eyes with a single breath and turned around, beginning to set the coordinates into his ship. Rose squealed to herself and closed the doors of the TARDIS, setting her large bag down and running to his side, watching. He glanced at her through the corner of his eyes, knowing that she was trying to memorize what he did. Rose had always fancied herself to learn how to work the TARDIS, and he had always fancied himself not to teach her. But now after the regeneration Rose had found it was easier to ask, but he was still unsure. He had given her the quick response of once he was settled in his new form he'd teach her.

He zipped around to the others side of the console, pulling a few levers and pressing a few buttons. He could understand why Rose wanted to fly there. It was quick, and with two weeks of not having the TARDIS move at all, it was completely understandable. The TARDIS was also happy, expressing it through how quickly she responded to his commands despite her age. He couldn't blame her either, being stuck in snow for two weeks must have been unbearable. He promised to give her a new paint job after the dangerous holiday known as Christmas was over.

The TARDIS shifted as she landed and he stood, gesturing to the doors for her to exit. Rose smiled and ran over to him, giving him a small kiss on the cheek before hustling over to her bag. He stood there for a moment, perplexed for the second time that morning, before his mind realized that she was outside the TARDIS. He quickly bounded after her, nearly knocking her down in the process as he leaned outside of the TARDIS's doorframe. He looked up, finding a small house on a hill.

_Well,_ he thought. _That explains the backpack._

She began her descend but stopped, and looked over her shoulder. He stood leaning in the doorway of the TARDIS, hands in his pockets, smiling at her as thick white breath slipped out into the air. Her eyes traveled to the house then to him, her head tilted in question. His reply was a shake of his head and a downcast of his eyes. She understood his reasoning. He was so timid around her mother; he'd be worse around her friends and wished not to embarrass her. Her eyes traveled back up to the house, then to him and nodded, beginning her climb again.

He watched her from his spot, how her feet would slip at times and she would steady herself with her upper body and arms. She had very little proper posture, and whatever skills of it she would have learned from gymnastics long ago were not in affect anymore. He would stand straighter every time she slipped and make a move to help her, but she would put her hand up, determined to show him she could do some things on her own. Ah, the arrogance of humans. But he smiled when she smiled back at him, standing in triumph before continuing to tackle the problem before her straight on with no doubt. He wondered where she had learned it form. Was it from him? Or maybe it was a natural born instinctive motive in all humans. Perhaps that was what attracted him so much to these little people, just beginning to walk. They held their heads high even in the face of certain defeat and continued forward, marching as soldiers. He smiled.

After she had moved from his sight he retired into his police box, closing the door softly and walking back into the console room. As of late he had found much comfort in this part of the ship than anywhere else. It was closest to the heart of her, where he could communicate his thoughts and feelings more accurately. During his time on Earth, however, he could also tell the stronger connection Rose had with the TARDIS as well. It was no doubt because of her incident with the heart of the ship. The TARDIS had brought them closer together.

But how close?

What a ridiculous thought. They were companions, close companions, but still companions. They trusted each other with their pasts and feelings, even if the regeneration had placed a small rut into it all. However they had recovered and the relationship changed, as do all when people change. However the fact they wanted the relationship to stay the same as it was before was unspoken to each other, neither having the nerve to say it just yet. But he was starting to have his doubts. His regeneration processes wasn't finished yet, just now was he settling into his new accent, there wasn't anything that said their relationship would change. He hopped it was for the better if it changed.

Rose was a unique companion. Most, he admitted, seemed to gather a fancy for him, but not in the way Rose did. It was more than just a physical attraction, but an intellectual and emotional one as well. She was so happy and lively, something he wasn't after the Time War, and it attracted him. He yearned to have that feeling again, the feeling of being alive and being able to think of things besides his past. He invited her, she stayed. They grew to be good friends, and he would tell her pieces of his past, but not all. Never. Then when she was in danger of dieing he sent her home, to be safe. He hadn't counted on her returning to him, to be so persistent, so stubborn to save him. In the end he saved her, and here he sat. He would have rather regenerated than loose her, than have time loose her. The smaller people were always the ones that affected the universe most.

A universe without the peppy Rose Tyler was not one he cared to live in. Then again if there were any universe without any of his former companions, he would not enjoy it. They were all close to him, some more than others, but Rose stuck out. It might have been because she was there during the beginning of his regeneration and was still there, or perhaps of the impact she had on him previously…or her connection with the TARDIS and thus the connection with him. It was rather complicated.

But, in the end, he knew she would become a ghost within his ship, just like the others; the TARDIS acting as a home to their imprinted presences to remind and comfort him. He looked up at the ceiling, leaning against the railing within his ship as his mind continued to wander in thought. He felt queasy at the moment, his knees shaking and almost giving out. His grip on the rail became tighter as his arms straightened to keep himself from collapsing. He didn't want to worry Rose when she returned by having him lying on the ground in another spell of unconsciousness. He felt weak, in need of a bed and rest to calm his pounding head and wandering mind, but he forced himself to stay well until she returned.

His thoughts were interrupted by the opening of the TARDIS door. He looked over, seeing Rose re-enter the ship, taking off her hat. He blinked and looked down at his watch seeing that time had once again flown by without his notice. It was also part of the regeneration, moments where a Time Lord would just look out and ponder whatever was on his or her mind before something brought them to realize what time it was. He stood, greeting her back into their home, forcing his knees to lock so they would not give out on him as he stood.

She smiled at him, taking off her gloves as she slowly walked up the ramp. He eyed her smile, tilting his head and his eyebrows drawn together, but a small mischievous smirk found its way onto his face to combat her own. She placed the gloves onto the console, receiving a frown from him.

"Well we are invited." She said matter-of-factly. He gave her a befuddled look. "To the party, Doctor. You and me, we are invited to come to this party." He frowned at the mention of the party. "It isn't going to be that horrible, Doctor, I'll protect you."

"Rose…it's not that…"

"What afraid you can't dance anymore?" Rose teased. He looked away, sighing and giving her a shake of his head. She frowned then, coming over to him worriedly. She reached to take his hand in hers to comfort him, a worry of time's clasp creeping up on her again. He moved his hand away from hers, but quickly brought her into a warm embrace before she could react. Confused, she wrapped her arms around him, hugging herself to him as he placed his chin on top of her head, stroking her golden hair. Her head rested against his chest, her cheek rubbing into the slightly tough fabric of the vest he wore. The moment passed.

"Doctor?"

"Ssh." He said softly, holding her closer.

Rose frowned slightly but remained where she was, silent. She wasn't sure what troubled her beloved Doctor this time, but she felt fear sneer itself into her. Fear that what troubled him lay in an untold past, one that would stay untold. Her grip tightened just a bit more. She noticed he seemed to lean more onto her, and shook. Her head titled as his slipped from its resting place down to her shoulder, his legs finally betraying him and sending him onto her. She stumbled, holding onto him tightly as he collapsed into her arms, unconsciousness taking him. She looked around for help, before holding him closer and making the attempt to drag him to his room. He looked so peaceful, breathing easily, but she knew he was troubled. Even in his sleep he could hide himself under his appearance.

Her foot found the door and she kicked it open, sending light into the dark room. She used her foot to find his bed, pulling him onto the soft covers. Her arm wrapped under his knees and placed them onto the bed as he groaned uncomfortably, shifting but settled. Rose removed her large jacket and pulled the hair from her face before sitting down beside him and moving her fingers to undo his jacket. She paused, unsure if she should continue, what would he say? How would he react? She shook her head; it wasn't worth thinking about now if he couldn't be comfortable in his illness.

Her fingers fumbled nervously over the buttons before she was able to undo them, being careful not to disturb him. She looked up at his face, seeing his eyebrows drawn together slightly in pain. Her teeth sunk into her bottom lip softly as she saw this, his torment. Her hand extended up, moving the bangs from his face in attempt to give him some comfort. He shifted slightly, his head going to the side. Rose gave into the nagging urge she had since she had seen his new form and moved her fingers through his hair affectionately, moving the long and short hairs gently. He gave a shudder; she froze for a moment until he had settled again. Every time he collapsed it became worse. Was this really part of the processes? Or another variable that affected the over all outcome?

She glided her fingers through his hair, bringing them down the side of his face and tracing the outlines. Until now she wasn't able to have a proper look at him, always from a far in fear that he maybe uncomfortable with the situation. He looked rather…dashing, was all she could find to fit him. Maybe that was just the charm of him, the Doctor, no matter the form he took. Yet he was so young now, or at least he appeared to be. She looked him over, seeing now just how well his new attire suited him, it was rather surprising. But as she thought of it, now whenever she thought about him, she no longer imagined a tall man with a leather jacket, but a tall man with a sense of presence stronger than before, and a zoot suit from the Roaring Twenties.

Her hand found its home on his arm, squeezing it when his breathing would labor. Her other hand reached up and undid his tie slightly, allowing him to breathe better. The TARDIS sympathized with both of them, dimming the lights of the room. Rose smiled gratefully up at the ceiling before moving her hand from his arm down to his hand, lacing her fingers together with his and squeezing. He shifted again, moving onto his side in his sleep, still holding onto hers. Rose smiled, putting her other arm against him to allow herself to be comfortable with her Doctor. She paused. That was right.

He was her Doctor now. Maybe he had always been, and she had just taken the human reaction to what he looked like. Whatever the reason, she placed her head against his other arm, closing her eyes and listening to his somewhat labored breathing, feeling he double pulse from his two hearts. Her Doctor was in pain, and there was little she could do of it. It was moments like these where she questioned her own existence, how fragile her life was. She was only capable of a life span of seventy years at the least, and then what?

What would happen to her Doctor then?

Rose bit her lip and shut her eyes tightly, squeezing his hand once again. The thought of her Doctor being alone after she had passed on was so painful. They were close, it was obvious. Whenever one was just slightly hurt the other fretted over it, fearing the worst at times. Life was fragile and could be disturbed at any moment, this she had learned from her father…but, when it came to her own existence with the Doctor, she didn't want to think about it. Her life would be filled with adventures and thrill seeking, and always a place to return home too…but one day, when she didn't return home, what would he do?

What did she want him to do?

Rose didn't know. All she knew is that she did not want him to suffer anymore than he already had for her. When he believed her to be dead from the threats of the Daleks, Rose could see the anger and sadness in his eyes. When he had learned of her well being, the sadness became a heated hate, seething into the souls of anyone who tried to hurt her. He'd kill them. But now he was different, what would he do now? Would he continue to fight or give up the will? There were so many questions it made her head spin and throb.

The TARDIS sensed this anguish and confusion, and eased her mind through their strong bond. It shared with her the ease of the moment here and now, not the future. Through their bond came a sense of understanding and knowledge, peace and comfort, and perhaps what a human would define as love. Rose rubbed her face into the pin stripped sleeve of the Doctor's vest before closing her eyes and letting the feeling take away her doubts and fears, questions and anguishes. The TARDIS gave her a promise.

When she woke, it would be a new day.


	6. The Fifth Act

**Title: **Everlasting

**Rating: **K+

**Summery: **Rose and the 10th Doctor stop off in London for Christmas just a few months after the regeneration has taken place. Both still adjust to each other has changed, as well as how they've changed themselves. Regeneration was never a straight line, it has ups and downs just as the rest of life does. (10/Rose)

**Story Notes: **The story will be ending soon. Ice cream makes for wonders between these two.

**Authors Note: **Thank you all for your kind comments. I am here to say that sadly there will be at the most only two chapters left before this story is at its end. However in this time the Doctor and Rose's relationship will continue to alter due to the regeneration, how? You will just have to see how it plays out. Thank you for your continual support. And to point out that the TARDIS is a character in this story, a rather crucial one as well.

* * *

This was certainly not what he had expected to find when he would wake, but it wasn't hated. Not at all, after all how could it? His closest friend was beside him in his time of need, and no matter what the circumstances that was important, at least to him.

He had awoken sometime after he collapsed to find himself in his room on his bed. He had taken the moment as his mind slowly pulled itself from the darkness to consider how he had arrived in the room and his current position. After his mind fought with itself of waking and coming to a conclusion, it finally found a logical answer: Rose. He was able to recall holding, or was it hugging, her before he felt himself falling and all was dark. What he dreamed of in his unconsciousness was unknown, but he knew there was pain.

That train of thought had made itself known and present, then switched tracks to when his mind had received the information that something else was amidst in his room. With some effort he looked down to find her in his arms, sleeping. He had stared for a long moment as it took his brain to register what he had seen. And this led to his current state of mind.

If his damn brain could make the connection between the rest of his body and itself, he probably would be on the floor breathing heavily in surprise. However his stupid mind was taking its time processing what it should do with his limbs, leaving him a sitting or rather lying duck with the young woman in his arms. He wasn't sure how that had happened, and his mind wasn't in a state to ask the TARDIS either. So, he lay there waiting for his brain to decide what to do next.

It decided that nothing was the best course of action.

He scowled slightly, blowing the hair from his eyes in a disgruntled way. Why his mind decided it was best to just lay there with her in his arms was beyond him at the moment, but he wouldn't deny that it wasn't unwanted. He had no interjection of holding her, but the slight dilemma of her being in his bed added that small variable that could affect an outcome.

He thought then on other odd variables that had been sprouting everywhere around him within the past weeks. His regeneration was changed due to his beloved ship, but it wasn't just positive. The spells of unconsciousness were less frequent than normal, and lasted much longer. Never before had it hurt this much, every cell in his body aching, and his mind becoming numb from the pain. Hence why he couldn't move now, his brain decided it was the right course of action to block any movement, it might upset the cells and cause them to shriek at him again. He sighed and scowled again.

She stirred, and if he had control over his body he probably would have frozen at the movement instead of just lying there like a helpless fish. Her grip around his midsection tightened, pulling her closer to him, resting her head on his chest. He looked up at the ceiling, sighing in frustration. There was no telling when his mind decided it would be alright to let his arms and legs move, and until then he had to lie there in his own bed feeling awkward and out of place. As he mused in frustration his mind made another breaking discovery.

His vest was undone and is tie was loosened.

Well. That was certainly not how it was when he had slipped into unconsciousness.

Rose had done it of course; there was no doubt in his mind of it. He remembered pain, and Rose would have done what she could to make him comfortable. The irrational part of his mind jumped to the conclusion of her trying to take advantage of him, while the more analytical part scorned and knew better. Rose wouldn't; though he wondered if it was more of a desire than an irrational part of his brain. He sighed inwardly, now he was starting to muse himself with how his own brain worked, that wouldn't end well as how it rarely ever did.

His eyes traveled down back to the blond in his arms as she stirred again, slowly waking. Besides the fact that he couldn't move, he forced his breathing to stay the same and his hearts to beat normally. Rose would be unaware she had fallen asleep like this, and he did not want her to think he was going to take advantage of her. He watched as she yawned slowly, moving her head into his exposed shirt as her surroundings became known. She paused, and brought her hand up to where her head lay, poking the skin to make sure of it. He grunted in pain, his brain decided that was a good thing to register as well. She poked again, he grunted again. Her hand rose again to poke.

"Don't."

Rose's head nearly snapped up to his voice, her eyes widening as she realized where she was. He gave her a soft smile, trying to communicate that he wasn't uncomfortable with her presence. Her eyes traveled down his body; attempting to make sure it was real before her eyes snapped back up to his. A red tint came to her cheeks as she smiled sheepishly. He returned the smile, or rather with a playful grin. As a natural reflex her eyes rolled and she hit him in the arm. He grunted lightly, wincing.

She frowned. "I'm sorry." she moved quickly to his arm as she spoke, worried she had actually injured him. He would have waved her off if he could move damn brain. Rose noticed his frustration and incapability to move. Her hands grabbed his arms and pulled him up, allowing him to sit up. He smiled in triumph as she let go, but his back lay down, making his head hit the back of the bed. He groaned as she gasped.

"Well that didn't work out right." He muttered, sighing in frustration and looking at her. "Don't go thinking it's your fault now, it isn't. My damn brain just thinks it's a rather good idea to disconnect the feelings to anythin' below my neck."

"Why?"

He frowned, knowing that if he told her she'd instantly worry and fret, but her expression told him that even if he didn't say it she would react that way. He looked up at the ceiling for a moment, organizing his thoughts before looking at her.

"The regeneration." He said simply, his tone low with almost no expression to inform her that she was to listen closely. She moved so she sat beside his head, looking down at him. His eyes moved up to hers before he continued his explanation. "Regeneration can be triggered when the cells of a previous form are dieing. This means that the cells reform and rebuild themselves, and it is a rather nasty and unpleasant experience, but it is better than death I'd say. Since _this_ regeneration was affected because of the Time Vortex, the normal proceeded is tampered with and the cells are trying to figure out how to reform. This makes the spells less frequent, but longer and much more painful." He gave a sigh, closing his eyes as his head gave a pound. Too much thought for the moment; too much information for it to process at the moment. But he forced his eyes open and looked at her. "Don't think it's your fault, Rose Tyler. I won't let you fret over it."

Rose frowned, knowing there was no point in arguing with the Doctor no matter what his condition was. Her hand came down, her fingers toying with his longer hair with lightly and delicately. His eyes moved up, unable to see what she was doing. His expression showed thought as his mind tried to sort it out, but also some comfort. She smiled, letting her hand do as it wished inside his hair. There was no point in really trying to fight anything at the moment.

As she watched his perplexed expression, her mind pondered on his explanation for his illness. The Time Vortex. Everything returned to that moment, the moment when she had thought she saved him, but like always she was the one that needed saving. He had paid the price by giving up a life and in return gaining a new one, but it appeared to be filled with nothing but mental and physical torment. A frown found its way on her lips, doubting she was so important and worth so much pain. After all, he used to say that she was just a stupid little ape…but that was before. He was really a different person but at the same time, he was still him. It confused her.

"But, you know." His voice broke into her thoughts and she looked up at him. "This could be some lovely time for ice cream."

"Ice cream?" she asked in disbelief.

"Well what else would you eat in bed when you're sick?" he asked, looking up at her with a grin. Her eyes widened, her mouth opened to speak but shut as no coherent thoughts came to mind. He smiled again and forced his brain to move his arms so he could sit up instead of his head being elevated. Rose's arms went to help him, sit him up and he nodded in appreciation. What happened next he wouldn't have expected, and that was Rose Tyler sitting beside him against the headboard, laying her head on his shoulder and taking his hand in hers.

Today was full of surprises.

"So then, what kind of ice cream would you like Doctor?" she asked, looking up at him. He blinked and let out a breath of air to move the hair from his eyes as his eyebrows came together in thought. She smiled, laughing a little as she rested her head against his open jacket.

He mused lightly. "I dunno, how about we just go and see what we have?" he paused as she looked up at him, her eyes a little wider and her mouth a opened slightly. "What is it?"

"Your voice." She said softly.

"What about it?"

"It's…different."

His nodded in understanding, licking his dry lips in attempt to try and explain to her before turning back to her. "That's also part of the process, normally. Why you don't like it?"

"Just not used to hearing my Doctor speak in a Scottish tone is all." She smiled lightly, trying to joke about it. The Doctor nodded in understanding, putting his hand on the back of her head and ruffling her hair. She hit his arm and he winced. Rose lifted herself gracefully off the bed and stood up.

"Well then I'll just go and see what kind of ice cream the Doctor keeps in his fridge." She leaned over and ruffled his hair, turning and leaving with an extra bounce in her step.

He sat there perplexed over her actions, but the phrase '_My Doctor_'. He recalled she had said it once, when she was possessed by the Time Vortex. She had explained why she did such a dangerous thing, to save her Doctor. Part of him worried slightly at the repeat of previous companions that had fallen for him, but this was different the other half of his mind argued. Rose wasn't like any other companion he had, although she shared similar traits. He closed his eyes, sighing lightly to himself.

The bed dipped. He opened his eyes to find Rose sitting by his side again, holding a bowl of chocolate ice cream with one spoon. The small amount of logic in his mind related to the fact that Rose had only brought one spoon and that he couldn't move well, but the rest of his mind decided that it was nice to wonder on the fact of Rose and chocolate. The logic sparked into his mind of why he was bothering on dwelling about chocolate and Rose, but the logic died out as he tried to say something and wasn't able to.

"I'm going to have to feed it to you aren't I?" she asked.

"Well, uhm, you don't have to…if you don't want to that is." He said with the feeling of nervousness peaking into his voice. Rose looked at him with a small smile, dipping the silver spoon into the slowly melting ice cream and scooping a small bit onto the spoon. She lifted it up to him where he stared at it and her for a moment, dumbfounded, before his brain registered that he was to eat what was on the spoon.

"I used to do this a lot with Mum and Mickey when they'd get sick." She explained, pulling the spoon out of his mouth slowly and dipping it back into the ice cream, scooping some up for herself. "'Course it wasn't with ice cream, but with soup. Whatever does the trick I suppose." She scooped another spoonful up and offered it to him. The Doctor took another moment to register the action, but was able to retrieve the melting substance before Rose could pull the spoon away. "This chocolate tastes different." She mused.

"Made it myself." The Doctor explained, licking the extra ice cream off the corner of his mouth while she busied herself with the next spoonful. "Just a bit of new ingredients to make it taste different. Bit sweeter is all." She looked up at him through the corner of her eyes, nodding as she brought the spoon out of her mouth.

Rose shifted, so she was sitting beside him cross legged and not with her back against the headboard. The Doctor was going to ask why, but he found that the spoon was once again in his mouth. Rose smiled to herself as he blinked before taking the ice cream into his mouth and keeping it shut. He seemed to be struggling with himself or something that was running through his head. She went to scoop more ice cream onto her spoon but his hand came up, his fingers wrapping around hers. Her eyes went up, seeing that he had leaned in close to her, his eyes were tense.

"What?" she managed to ask.

"You have ice cream on your mouth." He said. Rose noticed his voice was soft but he sounded distant, like his mind was elsewhere than at the present moment. She nodded and set the bowl on the table beside her, raising her arm to wipe the melted cream off with her sleeve. His hand caught her arm before it reached its destination, guiding her close to him. Rose complied, not exactly sure of what he had in mind but trusted him fully. But when his lips met hers, she froze in surprise.

He kissed her softly, however making his presence known. The chocolate taste came to his mouth and he proceeded to break away, but Rose's lips pressed against his, making her presence known to him. Some tiny little part of his mind decided that it would blow logic out the window and drove him to tilt his head down, deepening the kiss. She didn't pull away but tilted her head the opposite way, slowly slipping herself over him. His head tilted backwards, drawing her closer, snaking his arms slowly around her.

The Doctor didn't remember the ice cream being that sweet.

They slowly pulled away from each other, but kept close enough for their noses to touch. Something else in his mind snapped, deciding that it was a good time to realize what had happened. He opened his mouth to say something, anything to explain his uncalled for actions. A finger came up and placed itself against his lips, pressing slightly. His eyebrows drew together in confusion as she slipped backwards, smiling.

"I think that's enough ice cream for now, Doctor." She stood, taking the bowl. "You should sleep some more, we still have a party to go to." With that she turned on her heal and left the room.


	7. The Sixth Act

**Title: **Everlasting

**Rating: **K+

**Summery: **Rose and the 10th Doctor stop off in London for Christmas just a few months after the regeneration has taken place. Both still adjust to each other has changed, as well as how they've changed themselves. Regeneration was never a straight line, it has ups and downs just as the rest of life does. (10/Rose)

**Authors Note: **Here is your next part. I once again thank you all so much for coming and reading this. I have enjoyed writing this and exploring the altered relationship between Ten and Rose. After this one there is sadly only one act left, but I hope you all enjoy it anyways. I read in an article from RTD that Ten won't always wear his full outfit, which I found a bit surprising, but I decided to incorporate that fact into this chapter. But enough of the babbling, read on!

* * *

Time for a chat.

That's what she had decided before she had found him musing himself in the wardrobe. Yet that thought had been lost in the confusion of the new apparel, as well as the other Christmas preparations her mother had dragged her into. But now she was finally able to catch her breath and sit down, relaxing and taking a moment just to herself. As she sat at the kitchen table, her head in her palm and her fingers swirling a spoon in hot chocolate, she had begun to think over the recent advents with her new Doctor. All their talk about how he was different had led back to one thing.

The Time Vortex.

Rose fixed her posture, staring down at the cooling hot chocolate. And that was how he had found her.

He had entered the room a few minutes prior, watching her stare thoughtfully into her mug. He noted the emotions that flickered in her eyes, hurt, confusion, trust, curiosity, and love. The last one always baffled him, as seeing how that was a subject he would rather not discuss. There were so many types of love, but they were all founded in the act of caring. He used to be able to tell which form of love people were experiencing, but that was lost somewhere in his ninth form. When he found that he couldn't love anymore.

Or at least that is what he had thought. After seeing his home, his people, his family, destroyed in a great inferno. Everything he had loved was gone in an instant, nothing left but rocks. He didn't want to love again, not after that. His eyes left the floor to meet Rose's eyes that were peering into him, both searching for an answer to an unasked question deep inside them.

"You're missing about two layers." She brought up.

He blinked as his thoughts focused on what she said and followed her eyes downward. It was true. This day he had decided that he'd just wear his shirt and tie. His body was still slightly aching from his previous spell, thus he wanted as much mobility as he could get while still being dressed. He nodded to her and gave a dashing smile as he headed over to the stove to pick up the cooled kettle she had left there. He flicked the stove on.

"Doctor," she spoke again. "I need to talk with you."

Rose's eyes followed as he seemed to freeze but found the way to turn and see her. His eyes told her he was surprised and maybe a bit scared. Nearly four months of traveling and he was still worried that she would get up and leave him. She scowled lightly at the thought, were other companions so cruel on leaving him when he needed them? He was still the Doctor, couldn't they see that? Her eyes snapped back up as he pulled a chair from the table and sat, arms resting on the wooden surface. The air became thick and electrifying, filled with worry.

"Yes?" he finally asked.

She slowly worked through the questions in her mind. Her posture straightened again, looking up at him with the sense of business and pure seriousness. His back straightened as well, perhaps involuntary. A few silent moments passed as she finished working out the reasoning in her head.

"When we were at Satellite Five," she began but paused as he glanced away and some emotion flickered in his dark eyes. "You sent me back to Mum and Mickey. Why?"

He never wanted to have this conversation. In fact he had grown to not want to talk about his previous incarnation at all. It was dark and horrid; he was so cruel and unforgiving. His anger at himself and the rest of time vented anywhere he pleased it to be at the moment, and several of those times it was Rose. It had hurt her. He hated himself for hurting her in his anger, for blaming her at times on why so many adventures had fallen through and became fatale. It was never her fault, it was his.

Her hand broke his thoughts as it placed itself on top of his arm. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows leaving his skin exposed. There was a tingle from her electrical flow that made his hair stand up slightly. Slowly his eyes found hers.

"I didn't want you to die." He said slowly and continued on before she could interrupt. "Not from the Daleks." She was confused he could tell. His eyes went to the table again as his eyebrows narrowed in anger at the memory. "I was creating the Delta Wave, Rose. Do you remember helping me with that?" even though she nodded he continued on with his explanation, his voice becoming lower and darker in his accent as he spoke. "I could have created it easily, and I did, but it wouldn't have been refined. There was no time to bend and shape it into what I needed, to have it hit just the Daleks."

His eyes slowly looked up at hers. Fear is what she was feeling. He could tell by her wide eyes and short breaths. "The Delta Wave would have hit anything in its path, no distinguishing between human and Dalek. Everyone on Satellite Five, everything on Earth, and every Dalek would have been destroyed." His eyes shot away down at the table again, distant as the memories and past feelings rushed through him.

"I couldn't let you die, Rose," his voice softened as he stared at the table, the images flashing before his eyes. "I didn't want to be the cause of your death; I…can't see you die." Her grip tightened on his arm as he spoke for not only his past self but his present. "I wanted to run away, bring you with me, but I could never do it myself, only if you asked….and even though I asked you to, I knew you wouldn't. If I couldn't leave with you, then I had to send you home and die the glorious death that the rest of my kind had."

Rose felt her mouth dry up, but she tried to moisten it as he slowly looked up. His dark eyes were so dangerous, filled with anger and hate for himself and the Daleks, but also sadness for hurting her. She looked down for a moment but returned her gaze to him.

"I know you have more questions, ask them." He said but his voice left his logical side and joined the emotional side, bringing out a form of demanding anger.

She hesitated but looked at him. In one explanation he had answered all her other questions but one. Knowing what she did, she wasn't sure if she wanted to ask or if she had the courage. Her eyes went to her hand as he entwined his fingers into hers. Rose closed her eyes, gathering her courage before her eyes darted to his with determination.

"Why did you kiss me?" the question came out harsher than she expected it too, but it took him off guard leaving him blinking. "When you took the Time Vortex from me, why did you kiss me?" his eyes darted to the other side of the room, shifting slightly as he searched for an answer. "Was that the only way to…"

"No." he cut into her next question but his eyes did not meet hers. "I could have just stood there and extracted the Time Vortex from your body, but it would have been even more painful than it was for you at the time, it could have sped up your death." His eyes stopped shifting and slowly looked at her as she stared, her eyes staring into his very being as if she was trying to pry the answer from him.

"So…then…you kissed me because…?"

He was closer to her in a split second, just inches away from her, looking into her eyes. She caught her breath, staring back into his intense but caring gaze. His hand guided hers closer to him, angling it closer to his lips.

"Why did you kiss me the other day?" he asked as she sucked her breath in again. "Some how I doubt it was the chocolate, even though it was rather sweet." He flashed her a smirk.

Rose looked away, feeling her cheeks become warm. Her head titled down as she tried to hide her gaze with her hair. Why was she so embarrassed? Or was she scared? She felt his fingers and hand cup around her cheek and bring her head back up so their eyes met again. His thumb drew small circles on her cheek to comfort her, communicating to her that it would be alright as long as she answered truthfully. Somehow that little motion gave her the courage to answer.

"Because," she started, swallowing a bit. "I wanted to." His dark eyes flickered with a light she hadn't seen before. "I wanted to, to kiss my Doctor."

He smiled again, putting her hand he had in his grasp to his lips and kissed it, looking up at her through his bangs. "Your Doctor?" he mused lightly, putting a bit more of his newly acquired accent into his words. "Now what makes you say I'm yours?"

She smiled, tilting her head slightly so her head rested in his hand. Her other hand placed itself against his, her eyes returning up to him.

"You will always be my Doctor." Rose answered. "No matter what you look like or how you talk, you'll always be the daft man that took me somewhere better; the man that showed me a better way of living." His eyes softened. "You are always going to be _my_ Doctor."

It was silent for a moment; all that could be heard was the gentle hum of the TARDIS and the slowly boiling water on the stove. He sat there, studying her for the silent moment as she continued to smile lightly at him and water glittering in her eyes. He blinked, sitting up straighter and resting his chin on their entwined hands. He finally understood what she was saying without saying it.

_I accept you_.

Her smile widened as he slowly grinned, that unknown light sparking into his eyes again but it glowed. Rose closed her eyes as he leaned forward, pressing his lips against hers. Their moment ended and he pulled away, moving the tears she had off her face gently with his thumb. Her question returned to her mind, but he had already answered before she could ask it again.

"I wanted too, Rose Tyler." He answered, kissing her hand again before he leapt up and pulled the kettle off the stove just as it began to whistle. She watched as he turned back to her, placing two mugs of hot chocolate down between them. He leaned over to the fridge, and pulled out the whip cream and set it down with the chocolate. Rose pulled the bag of marshmallows over as well as he sat down, grinning. He looked back up at her.

"Let's experiment." He said, rubbing his hands together. She looked at the ingredients on the table, then up at him with slightly playful narrowed eyes. His grin widened. "This isn't normal hot chocolate, Rose Tyler; this is the kind that's in that ice cream."

The Doctor reached over to the marshmallows and dipped them into the chocolate, pouring whip cream over them. He handed the cup to her which she took in her delicate hands and sipped at. She gave a slight cough at how hot it was and set the mug down. He leaned over and scooped the whip cream off her nose, placing it in his mouth as he thought.

"Needs a bit more sugar." He reasoned. Rose smirked and leaned over, taking the can of whip cream and pouring it into her hand. His eyes widened in slight horror as she ate the cream from her hand with a sheepish grin.

"Mum always yelled at me for doing that." She regretted lightly, drying her hands on the towel that hung off the oven door. "But now I guess she can't yell at me," however she tilted her head and ran her tongue over her lips to gather the rest of the flavor that had been there previously.

"You're right. It does need more sugar."


	8. The Finale

**Title: **Everlasting

**Rating: **K+

**Summery: **Rose and the 10th Doctor stop off in London for Christmas just a few months after the regeneration has taken place. Both still adjust to each other has changed, as well as how they've changed themselves. Regeneration was never a straight line, it has ups and downs just as the rest of life does. (10/Rose)

**Authors Note: **Our final chapter, sadly! This was such an awesome story to write, I'm so glad you all enjoyed reading it. This final part takes place at what I think would be the end of _The Christmas Invasion_. Once again this chapter and whole story have been based off what I've read in interviews about the new season and Ten, along with the pictures that have been released onto the web from fans and officially. With this sad, enjoy! I might do another story with this Ten, but I'll let you decide that.

* * *

He seemed to be able to do everything. He was gentle but still mad, but more analytical and much more flirtatious. He still could save the world in some witty unexplained way, but he could also make sweet foods. In the end she kept coming to the same conclusion as they ran hand in hand from the explosions behind them: he was the same with a twist. Somehow she felt deep inside that no matter the incarnation he took, she'd always stay beside him as long as she could.

He grabbed her by the arms and pulled her close as the police drove by towards the fire, fire trucks and other vehicles following. They held on to each other breathing hard, watching as many flocked to and from the fire. No one would suspect it was them, but rather they were two partiers that got caught near the unexplained fire. No doubt they would try and link it to the unexplained fire of Rose's old shop. Suddenly Rose remembered.

It was Christmas Eve.

The two had been so wrapped up in trying to find the Sycorax, and save the world the date had slipped their minds. They were supposed to be at the party, but when they had found the alien technology readings through the TARDIS they blew into action. It was her first adventure with the new him, the tenth him, and it was all so much like his previous self. Except this one liked to taunt more, to play games, and was more devious when it came to enemies. Playful was the way to describe it.

Rose was able to catch her breath. She looked up at him, seeing that his eyes were still on the explosion. However he felt her looking at him and looked back down at her, giving a smirk of triumph. She rolled her eyes at him, and hit him in the arm. He winced and scowled playfully, taking her hand in his. The two walked down the street like the things behind them weren't happening at all.

"Well that was fun." She breathed.

"If you enjoyed that I know _exactly_ where to take you next." He smiled at her. She noticed now that he always spoke in his new acquired Scottish accent, whereas before he would switch between that and a British one. Despite her musing she looked up at him with a question in her eyes. "Nineteen seventeen Russia, Christmas time of course." Her head titled. "Height of the Russian Revolution. They had wonderful parties back then, much more than anythin' you see here."

"You want to take me to the bloodiest time of Russian history?" she gaped.

"Actually the bloodiest time of Russian history was when Stalin was in power, Rose." He looked at her seriously, his jaw clenched tightly. "And even if you begged me to, I'd never take you to that point in time." He looked forward for a moment, gathered his emotions then turned back to her with a smile. "I would have just wanted to see you in one of those large ball gowns they wore!"

Rose scoffed. "Well then you might as well take me to some other time." She eyed him as his eyebrows perked up.

A thoughtful look played on his face as they walked through the snow. "Well there is October fourteen sixty nine where a young woman by the name of Isabel becomes Queen of Spain, and then later sends the famous Christopher Columbus off to explore the new world," she shook her head. "Well, fifteen fifty eight was when another woman became queen, Elizabeth." She shook her head again and he sighed.

"Why are you choosing these ladies?" she dared to ask. He smiled softly at her, stopping and pulling her around to face him.

"They remind me of you, in good ways." He explained as she tilted her head. "You, Rose Tyler, are a very intelligent and fantastic woman just as those ladies where in their days. You have a sense of rule and power when you walk, a stride full of knowledge. You also look very royal," he paused. "To me at least anyways." Rose smiled at how embarrassed he was becoming. "In the end I think that you would make fine friends with any of them."

"Queen Victoria."

"What?" he asked, taken off by the sudden interjection.

"I want to meet Queen Victoria." She smiled. He stared at her for a moment, before grinning and nodding. The two took hands again and began to walk down the street. "You know, it is Christmas Eve."

"That it is." The Doctor agreed and smiled at her. "We out to get you back to the TARDIS then, yeh? You shouldn't keep Father Christmas waiting."

She laughed. "Doctor, I think I'm a bit too old for Santa Clause." He looked at her as if she had said the most horrific thing in all of history. "I mean, I stopped believing in him when I was about nine. I can understand that Mum did it as all the parents do, but…"

"That wasn't your mum, Rose." The Doctor replied softly as they stopped outside the TARDIS. "What makes you think that good ol' Saint Nicholas isn't a real breathing person?"

"Oh no don't start that, next thing you'll be telling me is that he is an alien." Rose waved the conversation off. However she forgot that no matter what incarnation, her Doctor was stubborn.

"Nope, not an alien at all." He agreed. Rose's eyes snapped back up to his as he smiled. "Kris Kringle is from Earth. Course, how he has been alive so long baffles me as well, but my guess is that it has to do with innocence."

"Innocence, Doctor?"

"Aye." He nodded and pulled her close. "You see Rose, as long as something in the world remains innocent than there is an infinite amount of possibilities of what can and cannot exist. Candy land? Completely possible the minds of a child. Noel Father? Well you don't have to be a child to believe in him. Many adults around the world believe in him."

"Why?" she asked, leaning against him slightly as she shivered. "I mean you know from the time you stop being a child that he isn't real, just your parents doing something to make the holiday special."

"Well that varies person to person." He explained softly. "Most tend to believe that he is the embodiment of the Christmas spirit. Others think he is just tied up into the commercial world of the holiday that if you don't keep him, the holiday isn't the same. Some really believe there is a plump jolly man that comes down your chimney and gives the naughty coal and the good what they've asked for all year." He licked his lips to moisten them in the cold, glancing up before looking back down at her.

"All in all, Rose Tyler." He continued. "I would say it is faith. If you stay a child in heart then you can believe in anything. It is possible to be an adult and still believe in things like the Easter Bunny and Sinterklass. It all depends on if you want to grow up or not." He smiled and looked around London, gesturing to it for her. "I personally think that London, no the world, could use a bit more of innocence and believing in what the world things childish. After all what good is any civilization or race without innocents and the wonder of the child imagination?"

Rose was left speechless just as countless other times when he would explain the same thing she had heard all her life but from a different view. He had such a _different _view on things, one so foreign, but it made so much sense. She watched as he continued to look around the London view, a smile on his lips. She wondered if all Time Lords had been this way, or if it was just his charm that he kept from the regeneration. The small question popped into her mind, _why don't you believe in Christmas anymore_?

She thought. After her mother had explained to her, as a little child, how her father died the world seemed to stop. Everything she knew as a child, the bliss innocence, the idea that nothing in the world was horrible except when you scrapped your knee, the idea that trees grew chocolate apples, it all shattered in that moment. When that happened she had decided everything prior that was told to her was a lie and didn't exist. The world was cruel and harsh and no one cared about the little ones.

All she could think of was that girl that her father was with, and how lucky she was, and how jealous she had become. To find out then that the girl was actually herself made her feel childish, a feeling she hadn't experienced in years. Rose had grown up all far too young. Maybe that was why she was so attracted to the Doctor. He seemed to flick that small spark in her that allowed her to feel like a child, to believe in aliens and other worlds. He took her time to time and world to world, showing her that everything you could believe in did exist. That you could be a child at heart even if you were an adult. Rose stirred and looked up at him, biting her lip in attempt not to cry.

"Doctor," she said softly.

"Rose, look!" he turned to her and pointed up. Rose tilted her head up to where he gestured, her arms wrapping around his free arm.

A shaded figure stood on the roof of a building across the street. It stopped and turned to the two time travelers on the ground below looking up at him. It raised its hand and waved where the Doctor returned the motion as a giddy school boy. Rose stared in wonder as the figure turned from them and disappeared from view. Within a few minutes it returned and sat down in something, A crack was heard and a sleigh from atop the roof flew into the sky, the faint echo of bells reached the twos ears. Rose felt her jaw drop slightly as the shaded sleigh continued away into the night.

The Doctor turned his attention back to Rose with a smile on his face. He leaned closer against her side as they watched the sleigh continue on, a small airless laugh came from his companion. He looked down at her, smiling as she slowly looked up at him. A slight tingle came up his spine at the happiness of showing her something for the first time. It was the first time, for him, the tenth version of himself, to show Rose Tyler something extraordinary and wonderful. What would have been better than that?

"Doctor…was…"

"Aye." He smiled and glanced up at the sky. "See Rose? You don't have to be a child to believe." She was speechless, amazed and out right dumbfounded. He chuckled and kissed the top of her head, wrapping his arm around her shoulders as they watched the skyline. The slight thought flickered in her mind that the last time she stared at the skyline of London was when it was being bombed by the Germans.

"Doctor." She spoke again and his gaze returned to hers. Rose attempted to grasp the thoughts whirling through her head, but she finally looked back up at him and smiled softly. "Thanks…for, everything."

He gave her an odd look. "What's that all about? Talking like you aren't going to see anything more? Rose Tyler that was just the beginning, you have much more to see." He smiled. "Besides I owe you a visit to Queen Victoria, don't I?" his arm slipped off her shoulders and took her hand, entwining his fingers into hers.

"No, I didn't mean it like that!" she attempted to defend herself. "Just, I needed to say it."

He tilted his head. "What for, if I can ask."

Rose looked back up to the sky but found no trace of the sleigh. "When mum told me about dad….I stopped believing in a lot of things. I thought the world was cruel and didn't care about how I would feel, so I stopped believing. I guess I grew up before my time, but after being told that I didn't see any other way," she looked up at him to see him watching her intently, silently urging her to continue. "Then, when I met you….just, I don't know, I started to believe in things again." She offered a brave smile. "You showed me that I could believe in anything and still be me."

The Doctor was quiet for a long moment, taking everything she said into consideration and letting the words imprinting themselves into their personal timeline. But he found that he was speechless, he hadn't expected nor thought of Rose ever saying such a thing to him. Maybe to his previous incarnation, but not to the new him. All he could muster was a smile and a nod, kissing the top of her head again. He led her to their police box, thinking about the time just a few weeks ago where the burden of time came crashing onto them. He smiled to himself as the thought that maybe _they_ were everlasting. His kind lived on through stories and legends, maybe he and this London shop girl would as well.

Rose took a small step into the TARDIS after her had unlocked it, but poked her head out, standing on her toes to lean up and kiss him on the cheek. The Doctor blinked, his eyebrows raising and frowning together as they always did when he was perplexed by a motion she made. She smiled and pointed up to the doorway of the TARDIS. His eyes followed but there was nothing there.

"I'm surprised," she mused. "That Mickey didn't try and tape mistletoe there. He was always trying to when we were younger.

Ah, yes, mistletoe. He smiled to himself and entered the TARDIS after her, closing the door and walking up the ramp to the console. The thought had crossed his mind that the TARDIS wouldn't be happy with mistletoe hanging from her, after all she hated the cold and most likely anything to do with it. He flipped switches, turned knobs and spun wheels to their next destination. The TARDIS hummed in response, happy to be on her feet and doing what she was made to do.

The Doctor looked over his shoulder as Rose came beside him, looking at the controls. Her eyes met him and she smiled, leaning forward and met his lips with hers. He turned slightly and returned the soft gesture. Rose broke the kiss and smiled up at him as he smiled back. Her hand ruffled his hair, his eyes rolling at the gesture.

"Merry Christmas, Doctor." She said softly.

"Merry Christmas, Rose Tyler."

Rose turned on her heal and strode to the hallway that lead to the kitchen, but she turned on her heal to look at him. "Should I get the hot chocolate and marshmallows?"

He hummed to himself, thinking before nodding. "Bring the new batch of whip cream as well. I think we added a bit too much sugar to it." Rose smiled and bounded off to the kitchen. He leaned against the console, smiling to himself before he pushed himself back into his favorite chair, putting his feet up on the console. The TARDIS creaked as a form of complaint as the snow fell off his worn sneakers onto the console. He shook his head and gave a small laugh.

"Course, how could I have forgotten?" he chuckled. "Merry Christmas to you as well, old girl."


End file.
